“Mystery of the film set”. “Miracle of the picture revived”.

Those two are best when seen together. On those exhibitions we show technical secrets of film making from the cinema early years to modern times.

Exhibitions include devices typical of film sets, giving the visitors an idea of what work on the film set looks like, but we are also proud to present various exhibits that constitute milestones in the motion picture history. One of them is a camera “Oko”, the invention from early 20th century by Polish film pioneer Kazimierz Prószynski. On the other hand one of the most modern devices on display is the latest version of a “blue box” used to “copy” an actor’s figure into an animated movie. The “Nagra” tape recorders developed by Polish inventor living in Switzerland, Stefan Kudelski, id sne of the jewels of the collection on display. Those were used probably by every filmmaker in 1960s and 1970s and were famous for the quality of recordings. In the Museum you can see the magic lanterns from 19th an 20th centuries – the first projection devices in popular use. There are other numerous projectors on display, from small ones, intended for home use, to large a collection of professional cinema equipment.

The visit to motion pictures history cannot be complete without touring the “Cinematograph’s contemporary. Magic of screenings in Photoplasticon” exhibition. It is a multimedia display presenting the history of stereoscopy. The crown jewel of this exhibition, arguably Museum’s is a fully functional, early 20th century Photoplasticon (The Imperial Panorama), from the workshop of the inventor of that type of devices, August Fuhrman. Our Photoplasticon is one of the only four of that kind in the world, which are still in existence.

We also have two exhibitions for everyone who likes world of animated pictures – children as well as grown-ups. Everyone interested in the back stage view into animated motion picture production will be satisfied visiting “The Flying machine” and “The Palace full of fairytales” exhibitions. The first of them gives an inside look into a biggest and the most expensive animated production in the history of Polish cinematography, showing fragments of impressive scenography built for “The Flying machine” film shoot. Scenography reflects and depicts street of 19^th century Paris and in that scenery original models used for stop motion animation are displayed. On the other hand “The Palace full of fairytales” is the exhibition presenting history of Polish animation. Its undergoing a full rebuild giving it a modernized look with full multimedia display. Opening is schedule for 6th of December 2015.

The tour of Film Museum cannot be completed without getting to the bottom of it, literally speaking. In Museum’s basement there is the exhibition called “From negative to film copy” giving visitors an inside view on, now lost and forgotten, art of analog film editing. That not easy task, performed with scissors and sticky tape in film’s pioneering years, evolved to the art using a number of devices including editing tables – on display there are ones from 50’s, 60’s, 70’s including famous Amicola.

While walking around the Museum it is worthwhile to visit our basement in order to see exhibition entitled From a Negative to a Copy. It is good to know that not so long time ago films were edited on large tables with the use of scissors, a gluer and transparent tape. The exhibition features instruments from those days (the collection contains tools used in the 1950s, 60s and 70s including Acmiola which enables upright tape editing). We also present portraits of people who arrived at the idea of changing the order of images as well as “A Trip to the Moon” produced in 1901 by Georges Melies.

We have also prepared two exhibitions for children that prefer the world of animated films and for adults interested in studying the film-making “from behind the scenes”. The Flying Machine presents fragments of impressive stage design to the film entitled “The Flying Machine” – the most expensive film in the history of Polish animation. The film which combines animation, acting and the music composed by Fryderyk Chopin was shot in Lodz. The exhibition features also a re-construction of the 19th century Paris, the Flying Machine built for the film, models presenting a workshop where animated films are created, the “making of” and numerous stills. On the other hand, The Palace Full of Stories is a history of Polish animation showed from a new perspective. The opening of the exhibition is scheduled for 6 December 2015.